Naira regains points against US dollar

• as CBN injects more funds in FX forwards market

Nigeria’s local currency, the Naira gained about 5 points at the parallel market against the United States dollar yesterday, Monday 6, National Daily has gathered

The Naira traded at N460 to a dollar, after speculators had forced it 3 points down amid liquidity boost on Friday.

However, the Naira weakened against the Pound Sterling but maintained its Euro rate as it traded at N560 and N480, respectively.

At the Bureau De Change (BDC) window, the Naira was sold at N399 to 1USD, while the Pound Sterling and the Euro closed at N580 and N525, respectively. The Nigerian currency also traded at N305.50 at the interbank window.

In other segments of the market, Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and Travelex, an International Money Transfer Services Operator, sold the Naira at N370 to 1 USD.

Traders expressed the hope that the strengthening of the Naira would reposition the economy for greater productivity. They, however, appealed to the CBN to sustain the liquidity boost in the market so that the Naira could sustain its gains against the dollar.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s central bank provided on Monday $367 million to the interbank foreign exchange market at forward rates, it said in a statement.

The Central Bank of Nigeria said it sold $144 million for 45-day forward contracts and $223 million for 60-day contracts – part of a pattern of such sales in recent weeks.

The move “was in line with the bank’s determination to ease the foreign exchange pressure on various sectors through forward sales under the new flexible foreign exchange regime”, the statement said.

Nigeria’s interbank forex market traded $540,000 in early deals at 375 naira per dollar, near a record low exchange rate hit last November, Thomson Reuters data showed on Monday.

In February the central bank effectively devalued the naira for private individuals, offering to sell them the currency at around half the premium charged at the black market, in a bid to narrow the spread on the unofficial market.